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BOSTON — Lawyers for James "Whitey" Bulger continued questioning witnesses from the FBI on Thursday as Bulger's racketeering trial began to wind down with no hints on whether the reputed Mob boss will testify.

Bulger, alleged leader of South Boston's notorious Winter Hill Gang, is accused of involvement in 19 slayings in the 1970s and '80s. Many of Bulger's alleged crimes have gone undisputed by his lawyers, but they have relentlessly vied to dismantle the government's stature and the credibility of its witnesses.

Bulger's lawyers won't say if Bulger will take the stand. The questions he could answer: Was Bulger a "rat" who pumped the FBI with useful information about fellow criminals? Were the FBI and Justice Department so corrupt in the 1980s that their claims should be dismissed?

After testimony proceedings adjourned Thursday, Judge Denise Casper said the time has come for Bulger to decide whether he's going to testify. "I'll be turning to your side tomorrow for a final decision from Mr. Bulger," Casper said to Bulger attorney J.W. Carney Jr.

Meanwhile, Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Wyshak objected to the filing by Carney of 20 photos of Bulger at various stages of his life. The photos show Bulger as a smiling young man in a tie, flexing in a muscle shirt, relaxing with dogs in later years and posing with longtime girlfriend Catherine Greig..

"This is obviously an attempt to salvage Mr. Bulger's public reputation," Wyshak said, adding that he sees the step as improper.

"I took them to be in anticipation of Mr. Bulger possibly taking the stand," Casper said.

"If Mr. Bulger doesn't take the stand tomorrow, then in my opinion, the court should do something about this" filing of photos, Wyshak said. Casper said she would "wait and see" what happens Friday with Bulger's decision.

"If those Bulger photos are coming into evidence, what witness could be called to authenticate them?" asked David Frank, managing editor of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, in a Thursday morning tweet. "I can only think of one."

Testifying Thursday, retired FBI agent Matthew Cronin said that when he was assigned to the FBI's Boston office in 1978, "there was kind of an aura within the office of, 'watch yourself.' "

Unlike his prior assignment in New York, Cronin said, in Boston "everybody seemed to be interested in everybody else's business. You learned very quickly to keep your cards close to your vest."

Bulger's attorneys say their client paid FBI agents to provide him with tips and warnings that helped him sustain his criminal businesses in the 1970s and '80s.

Cronin said he was so wary of leaks in his office that he wouldn't put in writing information received from Brian Halloran, a Bulger associate who was working with the FBI in 1982 to implicate Bulger.

Halloran "was providing information that was singular in nature," Cronin said, and he likely would become a target for murder if word got back to Bulger's gang that Halloran was cooperating with authorities.

Halloran and his driver, Michael Donahue, were murdered shortly after Halloran began working with the FBI in 1982.